My Fourth of July Tradition? Watching Wimbledon

My own favorite Fourth of July tradition has nothing to do with fireworks, parades, small-town baseball games, beach getaways, barbecues, or any such thing. Instead of all-American, it’s the All England Club. Am I a traitor? No—just a tennis fan.

And while the opening days of Wimbledon 2019 have been mostly notable for the number of upsets—Naomi Osaka, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Garbiñe Muguruza, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Dominic Thiem were all bounced in their first-round matches—this year’s installment boasts a couple of marquee singles matchups, one must-watch showdown, and (I’ve never typed the following words before in my life) a shocking surfeit of mixed doubles fun.

Jay Clarke, a 20-year-old unseeded English qualifier, will have his work cut out for him as he faces second seed Roger Federer, who the sophisticated tennis fan may have heard a thing or two about, at 9:15 a.m. ET. Clarke was impressive as he beat American Noah Rubin in his opening-round match—and he’s been getting advice from countryman Andy Murray about playing big matches and exploiting opportunities—but we’re going to weigh this as an amuse-bouche heavily in favor of Federer.

At 11:15 a.m. ET, Serena Williams faces off against Slovenia’s unseeded Kaja Juvan. And while Williams is seeded only 11th, it’s worth keeping in mind that—aside from a notable lack of Grand Slam success and some maddening injuries since returning to the sport after giving birth to her daughter, Olympia—she’s obviously capable of beating pretty much anyone on the tour at any time. That will likely include 133rd-ranked Juvan, who was impressive in her opening-round win over Kristyna Plisková but faces an exponentially greater challenge in the seven-time Wimbledon champion Williams.

Which brings us to what will be, so far, the marquee match of the tournament, also at 11:15 a.m.: Third-seeded Rafael Nadal squaring off against the unseeded (and occasionally unfocused and unbalanced) Nick Kyrgios. In six previous meetings, they’ve each won three, with Kyrgios stunning Nadal at Wimbledon five years ago. But it’s worth keeping in mind that while Nadal is fresh off his 18th Grand Slam victory, this one at the French Open, Kyrgios has never made it past the quarters at the four majors—unless you count fines and penalties, in which case he’s the Rod Laver of Misbehavior.

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Style-wise, it’s a case of the beauty versus the beast: Kyrgios, at his best, wields his racket with the sort of impossible virtuosity that induces goosebumps, while Nadal’s gift is that he seems able to simply will himself to not lose. But there’s also been some contretemps, with Nadal saying that Kyrgios “lacks respect for the crowd, his opponent, and toward himself.” (Kyrgios countered that with: “He doesn’t know anything about me, so I’m not going to listen at all.”)

On paper, this would seem to be an easy call in favor of Nadal. As per usual, though, if Kyrgios can channel what are usually costly distractions and emotional roller coasters into on-court excellence, we’ve got a different story—and potentially a classic in the making.

Less fraught (hopefully) will be some—yes—mixed doubles matches that actually approach must-watch status. Venus Williams—knocked out of the singles bracket in the first round by 15-year-old Cori Gauff—is teaming up with fellow American (and phenom-in-the-making) Frances Tiafoe to battle England’s Scott Clayton and Sarah Beth Grey, while her sister Serena joins forces with Andy Murray to take on Alexa Guarachi and Andreas Mies. Both match times still TBD—check the Wimbledon site for updates.